University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Supervised Undergraduate Student Research Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects and Creative Work Spring 5-2001 A War of Words: America's Domestic and Foreign Propaganda Efforts in World War II Laura Clarkson Lefler University of Tennessee-Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj Recommended Citation Lefler, Laura Clarkson, "A War of Words: America's Domestic and Foreign Propaganda Efforts in World War II" (2001). Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/474 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Supervised Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Work at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. '\ UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM SENIOR PROJECT - APPROVAL Name: LaurO\C. Lefler College: COVY\rt\U n iCA+l on.. Department: ~1'" ~o\CQsnV\j Faculty Mentor: 0". ~m S\IV~n PROJECT TITLE: A W~r of- Woyc;A,. ~ A.~t"CIA'S t>~$t\c- Gl,no( t=OY&,j" Prop~~~Y\tAtA E~o~ in WO\"'\tAW~t'"lL I have reviewe this completed senior honors thesis with this student and certify that it is a project co ensurate with honors-- evel undergraduate research in this field. Signed: Faculty Mentor Date: 401 Comments (Optional): Laura C. Lefler Senior Honors Project Broadcasting Department Independent Study Dr. Swan, Dr. Broadhead May 2001 A War of Words: America's Domestic and Foreign Propaganda Efforts in World War II AUTHOR: Laura Lefler TITLE: A War of Words: America's Domestic and Foreign Propaganda Efforts in World War II ABSTRACT: Understanding that the battles of World War II were not limited to combat operations, but also included a war of words, the United States Government engaged in domestic and foreign propaganda campaigns. This essay traces the steps taken to establish these propaganda efforts during World War II through two main sources of electronic media: Hollywood and the Voice of America. This discussion also includes an examination of the relationship between propaganda and democracy. INTRODUCTION: In an effort to increase support for World War II among American soldiers and civilians, the U.S. government called upon Hollywood to use its theatrics to sell the war. The Hollywood film industry transformed the silver screen into a battlefield went to war with the production of Frank Capra's Why We Fight series, and "the B's," short, low budget films like Rosie the Riveter with war themes and heroes. The U.S. government also felt the needed to spread its ideals and war aims to foreign countries. 1939, America was the only world power without a government-sponsored international radio new service. In February 1942, John Houseman inaugurated The Voice of America to serve the need for war-torn and closed areas to hear news about America and America's war effort. VOA had many struggles both technical and in trying to find purpose and stability, especially in the post-war years. In both the domestic and foreign arenas, propagandists struggled with how a democracy can use propaganda without diminishing its ideals. PURPOSE STATEMENT: I intend to show how the electronic media was used to promote America's war aims on the home front and overseas during World War II. I have chosen the Hollywood film industry and the Voice of America to define propaganda, and to discuss why propaganda was needed, why these mediums were chosen, how effective the propaganda campaigns proved to be, and how propaganda can exist in a democracy. A War of Words: America's Domestic and Foreign Propaganda Efforts in World War n The principle battleground ofthis war is not in the South Pacific. It is not the Middle East. It is not England; or Norway, or the Russian Steppes. It is American opinion. 1 World War II is appropriately called a world war because it took place in all comers of the earth. Men fought and died on islands in the South Pacific, on the beaches ofNonnandy, in forests of Europe, in remote towns in the Far East, and in the deserts of Africa. War took place in the air, on the ground, on the water, and even below the water. But the battles of World War II cannot be restricted to combat; much of the battles fought during the war took place across radio airwaves and on the silver screen. These battles did not directly bring about casualties, although some messages would eventually justify the genocide of millions, but instead changed and motivated peoples' hearts and minds to believe in the importance of the war effort. American propaganda theorist Harold Lasswell once said, "Not bombs nor bread, but words, pictures, songs, parades and many other similar devices are the typical means of making propaganda." The art of political persuasion, or what Lasswell defined as "the control of opinion by significant symbols," has existed since the beginning of time. But modem democracies and the mass media transfonned it from a minor activity to an instrument oftotal warfare.2 Understanding this inevitable "war of words," the United States Government engaged in both domestic and foreign propaganda campaigns. Despite some initial doubts, President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that his administration not only had to bolster morale at home, but also combat foreign propaganda.3 With increases in technology and power, the electronic media was one of several mediums used to promote America's war aims. Hollywood could deliver messages to the home front via the silver screen, and to make America's voice heard throughout the rest of the world the U.S. government inaugurated a foreign radio service called the Voice of America. Through these two vehicles, American patriotism could be both seen and heard throughout the war torn world. The Domestic Propaganda Effort Americans needed an answer to the question of why we were fighting in a war thousands of miles away. As Oliver Cromwell declared, "Give me the man who knows that for which he fights, and loves that which he knows.'.4 Few citizens were willing to blindly follow authority across an ocean and into battle. In 1916, 1.7 million Americans were in high school; in 1940, 7.1 million. In 1916,400,000 attended college; in 1940, 1.4 million. Roosevelt's fireside chats assumed educated Americans who wanted explanations for citizen obligations. Acceptance of state policy, everyone seemed to agree, demanded some reason why. Not necessarily the whole truth, mind you, but at least plausible justification. 5 It was important for both American troops and civilians to believe in the war effort. Six months after the United States entered World War II, the federal government launched a major propaganda program to assist in fighting the war. The dominant agency in the propaganda campaign was the Office of War Information (OWl), established by executive order in June of 1942. The purpose of the OWl was to communicate American aims in the war and to convey to domestic and foreign audiences the ideals that could bring about a peaceful and democratic post-war feeling. 6 Movies provided an obvious way of informing the public about American aims in World War II. Each week, approximately eighty million Americans attended one of the sixteen thousand theatres throughout the country. Soon after the Japanese attack on 2 Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt called the motion picture "one of our most effective media in informing and entertaining our citizens" and said that the motion picture industry could make "a very useful contribution" to the whole war effort. 7 "Movies could clarify complex problems for people who were less inclined to read newspapers and other written materials, and the seductive qualities of the screen could help generate the support the nation needed." 8 Roosevelt promised to reduce government censorship and asked for the continuous release of movies that would keep the public abreast of the war. The OWl's Bureau of Motion Pictures was given the job of ''watchdog'' over Hollywood film production. The OWl issued numerous guidelines to ensure conformity in the films. The motion picture industry followed the OWl's regulations, producing films in a standard format. The results were an effective combination of information, patriotism, hero­ worship, and propaganda. Other messages hammered away at similar themes. Military strength, home front sacrifices, ethnic harmony, underground resistance, individual heroism, and Allied cooperation all flickered on the screen, and attested to the total victory motif.9 The military's domestic propaganda efforts existed on two major levels: motivating the troops to believe in the cause of war, and, as a result, perform well in battle, and secondly, educating American civilians about the aims ofthe war. If those on the home front believed in the war effort, they would encourage their soldiers and increase production of wartime necessities. Hollywood was able to aid in the war effort by producing motivational documentaries, like Frank Capra's Why We Fight series and fictional productions like the B's, to entertain and persuade both soldiers and civilians to 3 the cause of war. One thing is for certain; "no other period in cinematic history equaled the output of propaganda films produced during the Second World War. Hollywood's efforts contributed to the nation's morale by capitalizing on America's love affair with the movies."l0 The state of mind of soldiers was of special concern to General George C. Marshall, President Roosevelt's trusted Chief of Staff. The willingness of the men to accept the army regimen, their enthusiasm, and their ability to carry out their assignments were the product of a complex of attitudes subsumed under the term morale.ll A Morale branch was created and began the task of educating soldiers with orientation lectures.